


Summerday

by Cadence7



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: and why he can't swim, baby lavellan, before cricket joins clan lavellan, oh bad things are bad, this is why cricket is afraid of water
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-09-11 07:36:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8969611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cadence7/pseuds/Cadence7
Summary: There's a reason Cricket never goes near water if he can help it.





	

 Every year before Summerday, the matron, Venaya, of the Amaranthine orphanage would take all the children out of the city for a day at the beach. It was a joyful day and the squealing laughs of elven children could be heard even over the rolling waves of the ocean. For the first time Cricket, at the advanced age of four and a half, was allowed to attend and his excitement was palpable.

Cricket zipped around the group, going from curiosity to curiosity with unending enthusiasm, only to be called back by Venaya the moment he was getting to the _really_ cool stuff. As amazing as the walk to the shore had been, it had nothing on actually reaching the sun-warmed sand. Cricket was drawn immediately to the water, looking impossibly blue and vast. Soon enough he grew distracted by the shells littering the sand. He ran from shell to shell, determined to find the best one of the bunch.

While he was attempting to choose between a pale pink, cone-shaped shell and a broad-shaped, light blue one a large hand that smelled strongly of sweat and dirt clasped over his mouth. Immediately he tried to get away from whomever was holding him, his panicked shout easily muffled by the hand covering his mouth. The person picked him up with one arm and Cricket did the only thing he could think to do. He bit the hand that was keeping him silent.

“Ow! Stop fighting.” The man growled and his grip around Cricket's chest tightened painfully, forcing the little oxygen that the young elf had managed to get out of his lungs. Cricket struggled hard against the iron hold, wearing himself out more than making progress in gaining his freedom. He could barely breathe around the man's hand and his heart thundered in his chest, panic blinding him. He tried screaming again, _where's Vena?_

“You have no right. No right to look like her.” _Look like who? Vena!_ Cricket was aware that he was crying as he lashed out at the man holding him, but he couldn't breathe and no one was coming to save him and he was _scared._ “No knife-eared brat should look like my Clara.”

Before Cricket had time to parse this bit of information, he was falling. He struck the water with a yelp and only when he tried to stand did the man hold him down again. The man's hands went around Cricket's neck, squeezing tight and keeping him from getting back out of the frigid saltwater. Blunt fingernails dug into Cricket's neck as he continued to struggle.

His lungs were beginning to burn now. How much longer could he hold out?

As it turned out, not very long.

He held his breath as long as he could, fighting to be free all the while, but it was no use and the last thing he was aware of was the burn of saltwater rushing down his throat and into his lungs, his body betraying him in search for air.

His chest ached. His throat ached. Everything ached. His mouth tasted like sea water and bile. Venaya was over him, her hands on his chest, tears in her eyes. For a moment he couldn't remember what happened and only knew the pain of his body. Then the memories hit him and he burst into tears.

In the time since then, Cricket has never once willingly gone in water deeper than his knees. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! Come check me out on my tumblr for more dragon age nonsense. username is caden-shok, couldn't figure out how to do hyperlinks.


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